Hi,
The release is a fact: openMSX 0.5.0 is out. This is the announcement I posted
to sf.net:
openMSX is the MSX emulator that aims for perfection. openMSX 0.5.0 - Bronze
Edition - contains an improved configuration format, significant speedups
(including MMX assembly) and many bugfixes. Together with openMSX a new
version of Catapult, our user-friendly GUI, was released. Please read the
release notes for details, including instructions for upgrading your
configurations to the new format.
Below you can find the full release notes of openMSX and Catapult.
Thanks to everyone who helped to make this release possible!
Bye,
Maarten
openMSX 0.5.0 (2004-10-18)
--------------------------
This release includes a complete redesign of the hardware configuration XML
files. Also many devices were renamed. I/O ports are now specified in the
hardware configuration instead of hardcoded. Configurations in the old format
are no longer supported.
If you copied the configurations that came with openMSX 0.4.0 to a different
location (for example, ~/.openMSX/share), replace them by the configurations
shipped with 0.5.0.
The Python script share/scripts/convert_hardwareconfig.py can be used to
convert your custom-made configurations. It may not convert every detail
correctly, but it will save you a lot of time compared to manually converting
configurations.
The new ROM pools feature makes installing system ROMs easier. A ROM pool is a
directory where openMSX looks for system ROMs. The new hardware configuration
XML files contain the SHA1 sums of the required system ROMs, so openMSX can
find the right ROMs in the ROM pool automatically. The default ROM pool is the
directory share/systemroms.
Settings, including key bindings and user directories, can now be saved. By
default, settings are automatically saved when openMSX exits. If you don't
want
that, do "set save_settings_on_exit false" and save manually with the new
"save_settings" console command. It is also possible to save settings to
separate files, so you can keep multiple, independent configurations.
Old configuration options were converted to settings:
- machine: the default machine (needs openMSX restart)
- frequency: the sound mixer frequency (needs openMSX restart)
- samples: the size of the sound mixing buffer (needs openMSX restart)
- user_directories: directories that are searched for data files
The new setting "save_settings_on_exit" controls auto-saving of settings.
Finally, we renamed "frontswitch" to "firmwareswitch".
Changes in the video system:
- Use of MMX to speed up video scaling considerably (mainly simple scaler).
- Big speed up of scanline effect.
- Enabled blur effect in the SDLHi renderer (simple scaler).
- Scale2x and hq2x scalers now also work in hi-res modes (screen 6 and 7).
- Made pixel accuracy the default.
- Removed 8bpp support (which never worked before).
- Fixed crash when making screenshot in 16bpp.
New or improved emulator features:
- Added channel mode 'off' to mute individual sound devices.
- Added meta data of machines in config files.
Some of this information is shown in the window title bar.
- New "iomap" command lists the I/O ports and the devices connected to them.
- Added a debugger interface to all (S)RAM.
- Improvements in the 'type' command, thanks to Albert Beevendorp and Arnold
Metselaar (welcome to the club, Arnold!).
- Release key presses when the console becomes active.
- Improved geometry detection of disk images; MSX1Mania disks work now.
- Fixed crash in Win32 when dir-as-disk is used with files with weird dates.
MSX device support:
- MoonSound fixes.
- Added slotexpander extension: use it to change one primary slot into four
secondary slots.
- 8kB BASIC ROMs now work correctly and are auto detected as well.
- Added simple DC filter for cassette images.
.wav files created by MicroWAVer should work now.
- Fixes for TC8566AF FDC (used in turbo R), thanks to Daniel Vik:
improved timing (fixes Gazzel intro) and added format command.
- Force PSG portA to be input port. This fixes joystick and mouse reading in
games that write illegal values to the PSG (Match Maniac and others).
- Emulation of the Tetris II Special Edition dongle
(plugs into joystick port).
- Fixed high-frequency reads of low-frequency clocks (such as RTC).
Thanks to Daniel Vik for spotting this problem.
- Many bugs were fixed, including long-standing bugs such as a VDP bug causing
glitches in Andorogynus and CPU bugs causing glitches in Pennant Race and
Fony Demo Disk 1.
Build system, packaging, documentation:
- Separated OS and CPU in the build system.
- Build support for x86-64 (Athlon64).
- Fixed bug: new TCL was not detected by running "make probe" again.
- Added openMSX FAQ to documentation.
openMSX Catapult 0.5.0-R1 (2004-10-18)
--------------------------------------
- Fixed: Loading and saving of used hardware, media and configuration
- Fixed: Disabled controls are much clearer now
- Added: Individual sound channels can now be muted
- Added: Minimum and Maximum Frameskip support
- Added: Saving openMSX Settings
- Added: openMSX type support (typing remotely into the MSX)
- Added: Screenshot support
- Added: Printerport connector
- Added: Saving of Joystick settings
- Added: Ren Sha Turbo support (turboR only)
- Changed: Throttle into Max Speed
- Changed: underscores in machine and extension names are now showed as spaces
- Changed: Removed tear-off menu style in gtk